The University of Minnesota men's basketball program was so riddled with academic fraud and other misconduct that student-athletes earned credits from classes they never knew about, faculty were bullied by basketball staff and the head coach told players to lie about the scope of the cheating.

In the middle stood Clem Haskins, the former coach who not only knew about the cheating, but fostered a climate that allowed nearly a decade of NCAA violations to amass at Minnesota's flagship university, the seven-month investigative report on academic fraud concluded.

On Friday, University of Minnesota President Mark Yudof was left to apologize to a school and a state for what he called ''one of the most serious cases of academic fraud ever reported to the NCAA'' and acknowledged Minnesota's place as one of the most sullied athletic programs ever.

''I'm sorry,'' Yudof said. ''I apologize for what has happened and what did not happen to prevent this activity. I regret we've brought shame and embarrassment upon the university for which you've demonstrated such loyalty.''

Haskins, as he has done repeatedly throughout the investigation, denied knowledge of the fraud.

''Any conclusions based on a mischaracterization by the investigators of my own testimony attempting to establish that I knew of the academic fraud is completely outrageous,'' Haskins said in a statement released Friday night.

The 1,000-page report released Friday found that 18 players had cheated with the help of former academic counseling unit office manager Jan Gangelhoff and her sister, Jeanne Payer, between 1993 and 1998. That was one of 50 allegations investigators looked into, and one of the 34 they found to be true. Of those, 28 involved at least one violation of NCAA rules.

Haskins figured prominently in some of the report's more shocking revelations, including that he told players Jason Stanford, Miles Tarver, Antoine Broxsie and Kevin Clark to lie to school officials when allegations of the fraud were first made public by the Pioneer Press on March 10.

In the end, investigators acknowledged they had no proof Haskins knew of the fraud, but they concluded that the letter of recommendation he wrote Gangelhoff on Oct. 2, 1995, and the $1,050 personal check he used to pay for Gangelhoff to accompany the team to Hawaii were examples of ''direct, circumstantial evidence'' that Haskins was aware of her activities.

The scope of the scandal led investigators to conclude that there was a lack of institutional control, which the report blamed on four athletic department officials, all of whom lost their jobs Friday. Investigators chided McKinley Boston, the vice president for student affairs and athletics, Mark Dienhart, men's athletics director, Chris Schoemann, NCAA compliance director, and Jeff Schemmel, associate men's athletics director, for not heading off the fraud.

''The program was corrupt in almost any way you can look at it,'' Yudof said.

The report recognized ''repeated manipulation of the university's academic policies and procedures to secure basketball student-athletes' eligibility to compete without regard to academic interests.''

Investigators also said there was enough circumstantial evidence to conclude that Haskins gave cash, sometimes as much as $200, to three different players, including Russ Archambault. But the report said many other alleged payments could not be substantiated.

Similar scandals include one at the University of Kentucky in 1989 that included academic and recruiting violations. In that case, the most severe infraction was a $1,000 payment from an assistant coach to a recruit. At New Mexico State University in 1996, assistant coaches arranged fraudulent class credit for six junior college players. However, the wrongdoing in those cases did not include as many players or continue for as long as the Minnesota scandal.

The Minnesota report also detailed flagrant disregard for the education of student-athletes. For example, Clark told investigators he had no knowledge he had turned in papers or received credit for a class even after investigators showed him a transcript that listed his grade and credits earned in the course. And investigators confirmed a Pioneer Press report that star guard Bobby Jackson once changed his major to remain eligible even though it made it virtually impossible for him to graduate.

When players did poorly in class, members of the athletic department met with their instructors -not to ask what the player could do to improve, but to intimidate. On a number of occasions, Alonzo Newby, academic counselor for men's basketball, along with an unidentified assistant men's basketball coach, visited the offices of faculty members to pressure them to change the grade of a player in order to make him eligible to play, the report said.

Yudof said he was ''deeply outraged'' by the pressure placed on faculty.

The president said he didn't think the program deserved the ''death penalty,'' or a shutdown, which the NCAA last implemented in 1987 for one year after 13 Southern Methodist University players were found to have received money from coaches.

''We'll make some rules, and we'll try to create a climate that the first time that happens the faculty members should call 911-Yudof,'' he said.

Yudof also announced several structural changes for the athletic program. Beginning Dec. 1, sports programs will be managed by his chief of staff, Tonya Moten Brown, while the athletic academic counseling office will be reassigned to the office of the provost. The general counsel will administer compliance with NCAA and Big 10 rules.

Yudof accepted the resignations of Boston and Dienhart. Until his contract ends June 30, Boston will be responsible for student development and continue to receive his $250,000 salary, Yudof said. A search has begun for a new vice president of student development.

Dienhart's resignation takes effect Dec. 6. Yudof will appoint an interim men's athletics director within the next few weeks. A search for a permanent athletics director begins immediately.

It is not known when Schemmel and Schoemann will depart.

Penalties and fallout on the academic side of the program are pending. Faculty members who were involved in the cheating will be reviewed by their college's judicial system. Students and former students involved in the cheating will be judged by the dean and faculty of their college.

Yudof's stand for integrity in academics was perceived as a victory for the faculty Friday.

''I want to tell him, 'Thank you, and I'm proud,' '' said Mary Jo Kane, a professor of kinesiology.

But there was no cause for celebration for faculty, said physics Professor Marvin Marshak. ''I think he made the best of the bad choices.''

For central witnesses Gangelhoff and former academic counseling head Elayne Donahue, the day's news held vindication and pain.

Gangelhoff drove to the Twin Cities from her Danbury, Wis., home Friday morning for a news conference at a hotel on the university's East Bank, where she was joined by Donahue. Before meeting with the press, both said they felt vindicated because the report bore out the accusations they made in March. Donahue also responded to criticism in the report that she should have known Gangelhoff was cheating and done more to prevent it.

''This is not a joyous time because people lost their jobs, but I think the report is accurate and the moves Yudof made were the right ones,'' Donahue said. ''Some of the criticism hurts, and I am trying not to be defensive, but Jan reported to me so to some degree I should be criticized.''

Gangelhoff watched Yudof's remarks on television. She clapped at some of his comments and disagreed vehemently with others. She said in all she was happy because the focus of the scandal shifted from her to the totality of the misconduct.

''I am relieved, because I believe that President Yudof listened to what I had to say,'' she said. ''I know now that everyone who didn't believe me when I came forward has no choice but to understand that I was telling the truth, that everything I said was the truth.''

George Dohrmann can be reached at gdohrmann@pioneerpress.com or at (651) 228-5521. Judith Yates Borger can be reached at jborger@pioneerpress.com or (651) 228-5297.